THE MEANING OF CERTAINTY

by Steve Messman

My wife and I had a huge argument the other day. Earlier in the day, I told her she needed to be ready to take me up South Mountain at 2:00 PM. Well, to make a long story short, the mower broke (No! Really! It did!), so I went into the house at 1:15 and told her it was time to go. One brief second later I actually began to regret those words. The argument that ensued was a good one as arguments go, but I had to end it with this thought about my chosen sport. The idea is to fly. The idea is not to watch a clock. When it is time to go, it is simply time to go.

Well, we went. I flew. She drove. And it was good. But the whole argument thing started me thinking.

I was an officer in the Army in 1977 when I first learned to hang glide. I hated my instructors. They would say to be there at 10:00, then they would show up at 11:00. They would say that we were going to fly, then we wouldn’t. They would say…………..and then,…………… I just could not live like that. I needed structure! I needed a schedule!

Somehow over the years, I learned that when it comes to flying, schedules and structure are so NOT important. Schedules imply certainty. And there is nothing certain about this sport we enjoy.

How many times have I hiked up Tiger Mountain intending to fly, only to walk down?

How many times have I driven to the top of a mountain intending to fly, only to fall asleep in the back of the truck because that is the thing that made the most sense at the time?

How many times have I launched expecting to hit cloud base, only to hit the LZ?

And conversely, how many times have I launched expecting a sled ride, only to find myself a grand over?

There are some things you absolutely do need to be certain about in this sport. You need to be certain about your skills. You need to be certain that you are in the right frame of mind to fly. You need to be certain about your physical conditioning, especially if you are going to hike. You need to be certain about your sobriety at flying time. But you absolutely do not need to be certain about your schedule. You might get there on time. You might have to wait a little—or even a lot. You might not fly at all. But in all the uncertainty, there is one thing you can bank on.

When it’s time to go, it’s simply time to go.